Octavian

Liberty and Justice for All?

The Astonishing Life
of Octavian Nothing
Cynthia Benford and Becca Manery
Chicago Teachers’ Center
Northeastern Illinois University

Why teach this book?
 Written in a language perfectly suited to the author’s
purpose
 Exposes readers to complex human dilemmas
 Includes compelling, disconcerting characters
 Explores universal themes that combine different
periods and cultures
 Challenges readers to reexamine their beliefs
 Tells a good story with places for laughing and places
for crying

Carol Jugo, Classics in the Classroom, 2004

Why is Octavian Nothing
a difficult book to read?

Why is Octavian Nothing
difficult to read?
 Difficult vocabulary  Requires prior
 Unfamiliar syntax knowledge
 Information withheld  Frames historical
 Discontinuous events in unfamiliar
narration ways
 Unusual book format  Complexity of
characters and
 Genre-blending situation
 Indeterminate ending  Emotionally
wrenching scenes

My students already struggle
with reading. Why should I teach
such a difficult book?
 Students who only read books at their
independent reading level are not
stretched as readers
 Challenging text that is meaningful and
appropriately scaffolded can be very
engaging

My students already struggle with
reading. Why should I teach such a
difficult book?

 After graduation, college-bound students will
have to read very difficult texts—without help.
 We need to provide students with strategies for
reading college-level texts before they go to
college.
 The goal is to make students confident,
independent readers who know how to deal
with difficulty.

When teaching difficult texts,
don’t forget to…

 Teach some strategies in advance
 Alternate with less difficult texts
 Encourage students to continue reading
books at their independent level
 Watch for signs of frustration and adjust
strategies or schedule accordingly
 Provide additional support for students
who need it

Essential Question
for this Presentation
“What can we do, as teachers,
to prepare our students to read
challenging text at the deepest
levels possible?”

--Kelly Gallagher, Deeper Reading

Framing the Text

 Connects students to their own
experiences and provides background
knowledge

 Helps students engage emotionally
with the world of the book

 Focuses the reading

Framing Activities to Use
Before Reading a Major Work

 Web searches
 Anticipation guides
 Theme spotlights
 Focus poem
 K-W-L-R charts

From Deeper Reading by Kelly Gallagher

Other Pre-Reading
Framing Activities
 Read a related story or article as a warm-up
 Role-play some of the issues in the book
 Discuss a related current event
 Show a clip from a film
 Bring in an artifact
 Use guided imagery exercises
 Listen to music related to the text
 Bring in a guest speaker

Define this word:

Mumpsimus

Mumpsimus
(MUMP-si-mus) n.

1. a traditional custom or notion adhered
to although shown to be unreasonable.

2. a person who persists in a mistaken
expression or practice.

Connect to Theme

Have you ever had a belief
you thought was true proved
wrong? What happened?
How did you feel?

Seven Habits of Effective Readers

1. Activate prior knowledge
2. Create a focus for reading
3. Ask questions and make predictions
4. Visualize
5. Synthesize and summarize while reading
6. Draw inferences
7. Monitor and repair comprehension

Modified from Teaching Reading in Middle School by Laura Robb

Tools for First-Draft Reading

 Visualization: Sketch to Stretch
 Focus
Question/Prediction Charts
Concept-Definition Maps
Character Charts
 Monitoring Comprehension
Trouble Slips
Twenty Questions

Resources for
First-Draft Reading

 Double-entry journals
 Word books and word walls
 Audiobooks
 Videotapes

Tools for Second-Draft Reading

 Multi-layered timelines
 Double-entry journal plus
 Small group discussion

Have students ask:

 What does it say? (What is unsaid?)
 What does it mean?
 What does it matter?

Post-reading Reflection

 Asking deeper questions

 Exploring real life connections to the
themes and issues of the book

A final thought

“If my students are to have any chance of
becoming deeper readers, I must do
more than simply assign questions at the
end of each chapter or pull worksheets
from a file cabinet. There is a big
difference between assigning students
difficult reading and teaching them how
to read deeply…

A final thought

“…This definition reminds me that I am a
teacher, not merely an information
dispenser; and as a teacher, I will enter
my classroom tomorrow morning with the
goal of helping my students learn what
deeper readers do.”
--Kelly Gallagher, Deeper Reading

Octavian

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Octavian